The Fragrance Shop has reported an uplift in Christmas sales bolstered by online growth, but full-year profits slipped in “tough” market, Retail Week can reveal.
The specialist retailer posted a 1.2% uplift in sales in the seven weeks to January 4.
The retailer did not profile a like-for-like sales figure for the period but said they “were positive” over the festive period, while online sales rose 17% driven by a 40% uplift in click-and-collect orders.
For the full-year to March 2019, the retailer’s EBITDA declined 5.5%, which The Fragrance Shop described as “a robust performance in the face of kamikaze discounting at distressed retailers that made the market acutely competitive”.
The perfume specialist’s group sales climbed 2.6% to £124.7m in the year, while online sales increased 17%.
The Fragrance Shop opened 10 new stores during that financial year, alongside a further six in the current financial period.
Chief executive Sanjay Vadera said: “The market is tough and competition for fewer high street customers is undoubtedly fierce.
“But while we were sad to say goodbye to our House of Fraser concessions in January 2019, I’m proud to lead a retail business that can say it didn’t close a single high street shop during the calendar year and continued to grow online and offline.
“We’ve opened 15 stores over the last 18 months because it’s clear the winners in retail will be those that can successfully integrate their digital and physical businesses to look after a customer that wants to pick and mix between the two.
“Our robust full year and Christmas trading, delivering growth in a fragrance and beauty market that has shrunk in 2019, is testament to our obsession with giving our customers the quality, service, experience and products at the best prices across all our channels.
“And while we will continue to focus on tight cost controls, we will continue to invest in our supplier partnerships that help us deliver the innovation we know our fragrance and beauty customer wants.”
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